AFI Interview

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Bassist Hunter Burgan talks about the band, their new album, and life on the road.

By Ed Thompson

Since emerging from the shadows of rural suburban Northern California back in 1991, AFI (A Fire Inside) have been doing their best to keep Old School punk aesthetics alive and well. In June they released their seventh album, Decemberundergournd, which easily debuted at #1 on the charts further solidifying that they have done their job rather well.

Naturally, the band embarked on a tour to promote the album, appease their hardcore fan base, and hopefully to win over a few new fans in the process. So far, the band has mixed up its schedule, picking up some slots on the Vans Warped tour, playing some of their own shows, and even headlining BFD, an annual Bay Area alternative rock festival.

On a break between shows, bassist Hunter Burgan sat down with fan and IGN Music correspondent Ed Thompson to talk about the tour, the new release and the soundtrack to his own personal hell.

IGN Music: First of all, congratulations on the success of Decemberunderground. It's a terrific album.

Hunter: Thank you very much.

IGN Music: I have heard that during the songwriting process for Decemberundergound that you guys wrote a few hundred songs. What will become of those songs? Will the public get to hear them eventually?

Hunter: Oh, definitely. Some of them are still in song infancy and will later be sort of re-addressed. Some of them will be parted out to other songs. Some of them you'll never hear because they just are not good and that's the reason that nothing became of them. But this sort of process is always taking place with us. There's always been a batch of songs or just rough ideas that we carry around with us that we eventually, hopefully make into songs.

IGN Music: Are there any songs from the new CD that you enjoy playing more than others?

Hunter: The more you play a song, the more you get used to playing it and it loses its freshness. So any new songs that we incorporate into the set are always the most exciting. We actually try to mix it up as much as we can so that we can keep everything exciting. But I would say that the song off the song to me that is the most exciting to play would be "Endlessly, She Said"

IGN Music: As good as AFI's CDs have been, AFI the live band is a whole different feeling. The energy that comes from a live AFI show is incredible. Have you guys put any thought into recording a live album?

Hunter: We've talked about it, but never actually &#Array; done anything about it. It has only come up as an idea. It's something that we realize we probably should do eventually, but it's an idea we just have not acted upon.

IGN Music: When AFI plays, there is always a lot of mention about the fan club, the Despair Faction. They are some of the most loyal fans in all of music. What is it that makes these fans so loyal?

Hunter: I can't say for sure. I think that they are attracted to what we've done and what we're doing. We're not trying to bullshit them. We are not trying to pose and be something we're not. We're playing music from our hearts and hopefully that's what they see and what they're attracted to.

IGN Music: Looking back at the history of the band, from the early albums like Answer That and Stay Fashionable all the way to Decemberunderground, each album has a sound and a style. It's almost a progression. Does AFI go into the studio deliberately attempting to move in a different direction with each new release or does it just happen?

Hunter: It definitely just happens. As individual people, we all have many, many different influences musically and otherwise. So when we come together as a unit, we are coming from so many different places and are always pushing ourselves to play better and write better songs. So it's just inevitable.

IGN Music: Did you guys make a deliberate attempt when writing this latest album to incorporate the 80s synth pop sound that has found its way onto so many songs on the album?

Hunter: No. You know, once again, it's just part of the greater influence. We all grew up during the 80s and try as we might, it's going to be impossible to remove the 80s from our influence. So no deliberate attempt, but a lot of the music we've experienced was deeply imbedded in that.

IGN Music: Since the album's release, you guys have been doing some of your own shows but have also been on the Vans Warped Tour. How is the tour going? How is the audience reacting to the new songs?

Hunter: Really well. It's really exciting. I feel like some of the new songs are getting a better reaction than I even thought possible. Everybody seems to love Miss Murder and people are really reacting well to Kill Caustic.

IGN Music: Speaking of the new songs, my favorite track and, in my opinion, one of the best songs AFI has ever written is The Interview.

Hunter: Well thank you. That's one of my favorites too.

IGN Music: Have you played that one live?

Hunter: We have not tried to play that one live. We've been trying to add a new song every couple of weeks, but we have not attempted that one yet.